B.C. Conservative candidate claims to have new evidence of misconduct in 2024 provincial election

Defeated Conservative candidate Honveer Singh Randhawa is accusing Elections BC of concealing key voting information regarding the 2024 provincial election.

The legal battle surrounding the 2024 provincial election results in the Surrey-Guildford riding is ramping up again.

The defeated Conservative candidate held a news conference Tuesday to discuss what he calls significant new developments.

Honveer Singh Randhawa and his lawyer say they have filed an amended petition in B.C. Supreme Court introducing new evidence alleging irregularities and misconduct impacting the election’s outcome.

The amended petition is 45 pages long and has been almost completely rewritten from its original form. It still alleges voting irregularities at Argyll Lodge – a group home for people with mental health and substance use issues – as well as that people who did not live in the riding cast ballots there.

According to a news release from the defeated candidate, the court filing also alleges Elections BC “failed to disclose critical information during and and after the judicial recount” that was held after the extremely close final tally.

Elections BC ‘admissions’

Asked what was new about the latest filing, Randhawa’s lawyer Sunny Uppal told reporters the amended petition “better outlines the concealment and the obstruction” that Elections BC had engaged in, as well as the details of what happened at the lodge.

“It contains actual admissions from (Elections BC) with respect to what happened,” Uppal said, highlighting the non-partisan agency’s as-yet-unfiled response to Randhawa’s petition, which allegedly includes the admissions.

These admissions, according to the filing, include that Elections BC “made a mistake” when it sent 22 mail-in ballots to the lodge “because mail-in ballots cannot be ordered by one person on behalf of multiple people unless an election official is present.”

The ballots were all requested by the same person, a worker at the lodge, and there was no election official present at the facility, according to the court filing.

Elections BC has not filed its official response to Randhawa’s petition. The unfiled response containing the admissions was allegedly provided to Uppal after the lawyer threatened to seek a judicial review of Elections BC’s decision to stop its investigation into Randhawa’s complaints while the matter is before the court.

None of the allegations in Randhawa’s petition have been proven in court.

Asked for comment on Tuesday, Elections BC said it could not comment on specific allegations before the court. It did confirm, however, that it had provided copies of its unfiled response to the petition to the parties.

“We have not yet filed these materials as we were awaiting reasons on our application for a sealing order and publication ban,” the agency said.

“We made this application to protect the personal information of the voters involved in this matter. We anticipate filing our petition response materials this week and redacted versions will be available to the public. However, as Mr. Randhawa has now filed an amended petition, Elections BC may file further responsive materials in the future.”

Other allegations dropped

Randhawa first filed his petition asking the B.C. Supreme Court to invalidate Garry Begg’s 22-vote election win in Surrey-Guildford back in January. Begg’s victory gave the NDP a one-seat majority.

The initial petition alleged that several people cast multiple ballots in the riding using similar names, but that allegation is no longer present in the amended petition.

The B.C. NDP highlighted this fact when asked for comment on Tuesday. The party also pointed out that Randhawa’s initial petition claimed “at least 23” voters who did not live in Surrey-Guildford had voted there, while the revised petition names only 14 such voters.

“Mr. Randhawa has weakened his position with this amended petition, abandoning several claims that he had previously made,” said Tania Jarzebiak, the provincial director of the NDP, in a statement.

Jarzebiak also referred to affidavits previously filed in the case, which allege that “a B.C. Conservative operative” took a resident from the lodge against his family’s wishes and forced him “to sign a statement that he did not understand” as part of the party’s efforts to dig up election irregularities.

“As we have said before, the B.C. NDP is confident that our province’s elections are free, fair and democratic — and always have been,” Jarzebiak said. “Honveer Randhawa and (B.C. Conservative Leader) John Rustad owe these families an apology for the harm they’ve caused.”

For its part, Randhawa’s latest filing refers to the affidavits filed by Begg as “inadmissible and speculative evidence.”

In May, British Columbia’s chief electoral officer issued a report pushing back against “false narratives” about the 2024 provincial election. It mentioned Randhawa’s case, noting that the court had yet to hear the matter.

Should the court rule in favour of Randhawa, a byelection would be held.